Stockholm: In Three Days On A Budget

The Essentials

Accommodation: 

As you may have realised, it's been a long while since I wrote on this blogsite, hence with age comes a few more luxuries. While I find it a bit more difficult to slum it these days, it's still very possible to find reasonably-priced accommodation coupled with a good night's sleep.

The best way of comparing prices are sites such as TravelSupermarket or Sky Scanner - just so you know what to expect and when to go without having a last minute heart attack. Sweden is one of those places where it's easy to burn a hole in your pocket - so travelling smart is key.

As I am now holidaying in-between work, I tend to fork out for my own room these days - so the one that I can recommend is the First Hotel Norrtull in Vasastan. It's a bit more upmarket and a standard stay for business folk, but expect free breakfast for the £90 room tag (for two nights). It's also about a 15 minute walk from the city centre, but has great transport links.

Using third party websites:

After using Booking.com, I found that the difference between staying in a dorm and a hotel was around £50. It's a steep difference, even booked two months in advance, so you have a choice of staying in a hostel or a 'cheapish' hotel. Weekdays are the best especially as room prices shoot up on a Friday for the three day weekend.

When using Booking.com - make sure you choose the options 7+ and above on the review score section on the left hand menu bar to find the best hostels - for two nights expect to pay around £50 for a reasonable dorm near the city centre. The one that seems to be popular with great reviews is City Backpackers Hostel.

Getting to and from Stockholm:

Flights can be as cheap as £28 - I find that going on Sky Scanner, selecting the "cheapest month" on the date section, and then choosing the dates according to the price can be a good way of finding a deal. RyanAir and EasyJet are miles ahead in terms of providing low cost flights from Stansted Airport.

Places to See: 

Vasamuseet (Vasa Museum), Skansen Park, Stockholm Archipelago boat ride, Kungliga Slottet (Royal Palace), Stadshuset, Fotografiska, Moderna Museet, Gamla Stan (Old Town), all of these areas are totally walkable.

Transport:

Stockholm has an extensive transport network, so taking a bus or even a boat is relatively easy. From both Stockholm Skavsta and Arlanda airports, you can take a Flygbussarna bus that goes to and from the centre of town which is £25 return - well worth the money as it's more than an hour long trip.

At the Stockholm Central Station, there are plenty of local shops such as a Seven Eleven where you can buy 24 and 72 hour SL cards as well as a week long pass for SEK300 (£27.50). I'd suggest planning your routes on Google maps beforehand as to avoid panic on the bus. Everyone pretty much speaks English so it's a piece of cake.

I also decided to be a total tourist and jump on one of the red boats near Kungliga Slottet. Two companies Red Sightseeing (£15 for 24 hours) and Stromma (£16.50 for 24 hours) provide boats to travel to all the main hotspots saving a bunch of time as you attempt to make the most of the three days. My legs were definitely toned and my skin tanned by the end of the trip, so sit back, relax and enjoy the view.

Berlin's best parks

Berlin is not short of parks, and it's incomparable in terms of its foliage. Expect more than flat terrains, with a variation of flora and fauna, and even outdoor parties!

•  Tempelhofer Park

On first look, you may think who the hell would want to sit on an airport runway? Well, never fear, it is actually an abandoned airport, which makes it all the more unique. This space is a haven for skaters, bikers, roller-bladers, anything with wheels. Just think, there were 40 inch tyres going at 150mph at one time!

Now there are people in stripy aprons cooking up a storm with portable barbeques, watching sports on giant screens, wind and kite surfing, and planes still hang around the area! Party revellers like to hang around the area to sweat off a hangover.

Tempelhofer Park 

Platz der Luftbrücke, 12101 Berlin

Phone: +49 302 8018 162

Transport: Bus U Platz der Luftbrücke: 104, 248, N42, N6. U- Bahn Platz der Luftbrücke

• Mauerpark

(Daniel Antonaccio)

Mauer literally translates into 'wall', which basically is how this park came into existence. It was formerly a part of the Death Strip and Berlin Wall. In a completely different fashion, the park now hosts great music with a mini ampitheatre in the centre and people lugging around instruments and sound boxes in trollies. The Bearpit Kareoke is sadly under threat, as is anything that is free in Berlin, so enjoy it while it lasts. 

The Max Smelling Halle stadium for sports events is also held nearby. And you can stroll around on Sunday to catch all the vintage goodies at the flea market.

Mauerpark

Eberswalder Straße/Schwedter Straße, 10437 Berlin

• Treptower Park

This place is known for its Soviet Union Memorial in south central Berlin, so whilst you're lapping up the foliage, you can soak up a bit of history at the same time. It commemorates the 50,000 Soviet soldiers who fell in the Battle in Berlin in April–May 1945. It was opened four years after the war ended on May 8, 1949.

The coolest bit of Treptower, is the Spreepark section. In the 1960s', it was an entertainment park known as Kulturpark Plänterwald. It has been abandoned, but still has some remains of attractions on-site.

Alt-Treptow

12435 Berlin Treptow

Contact: kontakt@treptowerpark

Phone: +49302 50025

Website: www.treptowerpark.de

Transport: S-Bahn Bahnhof Treptower Park

• Tiergarten

Okay, so we covered a bit of Berlin's imperial park on 'Day Two' of the tour. But it's worth reiterating that Tiergarten is the largest park in the city.  Forested areas, lakes, fields of flowers, streamlets, meadows and large stretches of grass turn this part of former West-Berlin into one of the cities most appealing green spaces. 

While I was there, it was also used as the main spot for marathons, the equivalent to Hyde Park in London.

Tierpark Berlin-Friedrichsfelde

Am Tierpark 125, Berlin

Phone: +49 (0) 513 8141      

Transport: Bus 100, 187, 200, or 341. S-Bahn Tiergarten

• Görlitzer Park

Indoor minigolf Berlin

It's not the prettiest park, but it's not around for that reason. This once railway station (1867-1951) and home to British anarchist art communes, is now a seasonal snowball stadium and a full-time run-down park. It's a bohemian rhapsody for all hippies to enjoy themselves.

And at night, it becomes an ultraviolet underground crazy golf area. Located underneath Café Isa Mitz in Kreuzberg's Görlitzer Park, this mini-golf course has become a favourite word-of-mouth success.

Görlitzer Park

Görlitzer- / Wiener Straße, 10997 Berlin

• Sanssouci Park, Potsdam

Sanssouci is the name of the former summer palace of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, in Potsdam, just on the outskirts of Berlin. It's like the Versaille of Germany. The baroque-style palace is surrounded by a panoramic vista of the garden. A series of architectural and landscaping masterpieces were built within a single space in 1745 to 1747.

Other highlights include the Chinese tea house with the floor plan in the form of a cloverleaf and the Orangery, with its Raphael Hall. The Evangelical Church of Peace and the dragon house is worth a peek.

Potsdam - Sanssouci palace 

Maulbeerallee 

14469 Potsdam

Phone: +49331 96 94 20 2

Website: www.spsg.de

Transport: Potsdam Park Sanssouci railway station, located on the Berlin-Potsdam-Magdeburg line.

The palace is considered the major work of Rococo architecture in Germany. And surprise, surprise - it's a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

Berlin: In Three Days - Day 3

Day Three

Right, so it's the last day. And you've still got to see the one site that makes Berlin one of the most unique cities in the world. A division that almost destroyed the country, but the destruction of it gave Germany a new lease of life. It could only be the East Side Gallery or as it is better known as the Berlin Wall.


For 28 years, the Berlin Wall cut an unrelenting gash through the whole of downtown Berlin in an attempt to prevent the citizens of East Berlin and the German Democratic Republic from fleeing to the West. By 1989, the wall fell with the collapse of the GDR.


The East Side Gallery is now an international memorial for freedom, which allows 106 artists from all around the world to display their message of hope through art.

The build-up to seeing the wall is exhilarating enough for any avid traveller. On the Mühlenstrasse stretch, the nearest stop to the wall is Ostbahnhof (line S5, S7, S9, S75) and it being a beacon of freedom, it only seems apt that it's free.

Seeing it in person, is a whole other kettle of fish. It's truly bizarre to imagine that such beautiful paintings reside on top of a canvas that caused so much misery. Only 23 years ago, 136 people had died in shootings, were killed in accidents or committed suicide after failing to cross the Wall.

In between the cracks of the wall, there are places to relax alongside the river. Oststrand or the 'East Beach' is a bar on the banks of the River Spree. Apparently, it's Berlin's biggest urban beach, so when it's sunny, you may think your in the Mediterranean somewhere. At this point, public transport is in order, as the next destination is 4km away, and you may not be up for walking for a third day running.

Spend the rest of the afternoon checking out Museum Island, (Alexanderplatz S- and U-Bahnhof). It has its own micro-climate, like putting your foot in the past. From ancient History to modern art, you can see everything Berlin has to offer in this square. Choose wisely, as time and money becomes rather precious here. I went to the German History Museum to get a better feel for the country for a mere 5 euros. There's even The Ramones Museum, solely dedicated to the Punk band. This whole area has been deemed an UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Other Great Places to Visit

1. Gendarmenmarkt - Reported as one of the most beautiful squares in Europe. 
2. Charlottenburg palace- largest palace in Berlin, originally constructed in the 17th century.
3. Potsdam - 24km outside the city, contains the large baroque Neues Palace.
4. Russian Memorial - Dedication for soldiers who died in the war.
5. Tempelhof Park - Amazing abandoned airport, now used to host concerts and barbeques.

Berlin: In Three Days - Day 2

Day Two


Again, the History student in me tells everyone that you can't leave Berlin without visiting the infamous border, Checkpoint Charlie. Checkpoint Charlie, along with Glienicker Brücke (Glienicker Bridge) was the best known border-crossing of the Cold War days. The sign, which became a symbol of the division of Cold War Berlin and read like a dire warning to those about to venture beyond the Wall – YOU ARE NOW LEAVING THE AMERICAN SECTOR.

Until the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, it signified the border between West and East, Capitalism and Communism, freedom and confinement. The Museum, known as Haus am Checkpoint Charlie (entry is 12.50 euros), contains the best documentation available on the many escape attempts from East to West. The nearest station is Kochstraße U6, and around the corner is Wilhelmstrasse, which houses Germany's former governmental administration.

Wilhelmstrasse was the site of the Third Reich's most important ministries and embassies. The Topography of Terror is an open-air exhibition (free), which documents the history of this site as the control centre of the National Socialist programme of persecution and annihilation. Niederkirchnerstraße is the road you need to look for to find the site.


Walk far enough down Wilhelmstrasse, and turn left onto Hannah-Arendt-Straße, next thing you'll see is a grey labyrinth of concrete boxes. The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe also known as the Holocaust Memorial, literally dawns on you as you meander through a field of of 2,700 concrete slabs.


The abstract graves is open to personal interpretation, however the overall feeling getting lost through the mammoth maze, is of suffocation and impending doom as the blocks gradually grow.

Back on Wilhelmstrasse, you can catch a glimpse of the Brandenburg Gate. The neoclassical triumphal arch is one of the most illustrious landmarks of Germany. It is the only remaining gate of a series through which Berlin was once entered. Just one block north stands the German Reichstag (Parliament), which once the governmental home of the Prussian Empire.

After being sufficiently 'historied'-out, Tiergarten not only was the preferred hunting ground of the elector princes of Brandenburg, but its swampy forests is like a magical wonderland. It's apparently the largest park in Berlin. And that's another thing, Berlin parks are like no other - and must be explored.


Again, the best way of unearthing a great place is to actually take a bicycle or your feet and get around the place.


It's time to head back for today, if you're feeling drained from the walk, but there's plenty of nightlife in Berlin to enjoy- so rest beforehand!

Berlin: In Three Days - Day 1

Day One

I had been to Berlin before when I was a wee little'un, but it doesn't quite have the same impact visiting it with friends as a young adult. For one I didn't need to hold someone's hand crossing the road (well, not always!)

It inadvertently became the day of trailing art. And it wasn't a bad start to get a better sense of the city. So the first stop was to Berlin's art district at Oranienburger Tor (line U6), which consisted of a dilapidated warehouse, with graffiti resembling a modern-day Sistine Chapel. It was literally caked in paint, beautifully formed into a master craft. But sadly, I'm not sure if it's still in existence, as last I heard, they were pulling it down.

At first glance, it's rather difficult to establish what the building was. Was it a building with Banksy replicas or were there actual artists at work here? As we made our way to the top of the tower, it became apparent that there skilled masters crafting a new piece, and showcasing their paintings and photography. Apparently, it is the skeletal ruin of a 1907 department store that has been occupied since 1990 by a collective of artists from all over the world.

There were two in particular that stood out. One was surrealism galore, as if Primus had been poured into the paint. The other had photographs of an aged woman, her innocence and sweetness peered from behind her eyes. It would be a shame if it no longer existed, but it being entirely run by donations, it's hardly likely to stay open.

Then a walkabout was in order. Down Oranienburger Street, a strange museum appeared next to the beautiful new Jewish synagogue. It must have been the C/O Photography exhibition, with an apt Soviet Union car sticking halfway out the building. Entrance was a 'student'-pricey ₤10, so I gave it miss that day.

Walk far enough down the road, and you will hit Hackeschen Höfe, a series of inner courtyards located in the district of Spandauer Vorstadt, in Mitte. They were built in 1904 as a sequence of buildings to be connected by inner courtyards that are not only areas of housing but also shops and workshops.

In these courtyards, you can find the “Chamäleon” theatre as well as the cinema Hackeschen Höfe Kino, not to mention a clothes, food and craft market open on Thursdays and Saturdays.

From there, turn right onto An der Spandauer Brücke and right again onto Anna-Louisa-Karsch-Straße (street), which will lead you towards the TV Tower (the tallest building in the country and an iconic image of Berlin). At the TV Tower, you can get a panoramic view of Berlin for 12 euros, remembering to book in advance to avoid the queues!

The Neptune Fountain (The neo-baroque fountain, decorated with bronze statues Zeus, was created between 1886 and 1891 by Reinhold Begas) and the Rotes Rathaus (Red Town Hall) are also down Spandauer Straße. This is also the place you can catch a hop on hop off city tour bus.

Next thing you know, you're at Alexanderplatz eating a burger on the steps.

Berlin, Germany: On a Shoestring

The Essentials

Accommodation: 

Okay, I've been rather blessed over the last few years to have people to stay with in Europe. Berlin was such a place, but I heard that Ostel is relatively cheap, (though the price has increased), and gives an 'authentic' feeling of East Berlin under the Soviet Union. If you're looking for something eccentric, then this place offers bunkbeds galore. Or if you really want to try something kooky, then my old friend Couchsurfing is supposed to be at the height of its services. Nothing beats staying in Berlin with a local who knows the night-life like the back of their hand.

And location-wise? Again Kotti/ Kottbusser Tor, is outside of the main tourist area and has quite a lot of restaurants, parks and random entertainment to explore. It is predominantly a Turkish area, so you know what that means- 2am kebabs. Again, I stayed in Berlin for about a month, so I had enough time to pace myself. But three days should be enough to get a taste of the Berlin flavour.

Places to See: 

The Reichstag (Parliament), Jewish memorial, Checkpoint Charlie (DDR Museum), Museum Island, Brandenburg Gate, Alexanderplatz, Berlin Wall, Art District (Kunsthaus Tacheles), Russian Memorial as well as all the various parks to visit. Former airport, Tempelhof Park is well worth the visit if you have extra time to spare.

Getting to and from Berlin: 

Both Easyjet and Ryanair do cheap-ish flights from London Stansted or Luton to Berlin Schoenefeld, which is less than the main airports. But you have to factor in transport to and from the airport which is ₤15 as well as extra luggage for ₤30. So a small bag should suffice. I had a handbag for one month! Ryanair can do return flights from £40 excluding tax, while Easyjet is a little more expensive £65.

Transport: 

Berlin is well-designed to get around fairly easily. Whether you want to cycle through the town or take the overground train/tram, there's a stop everywhere. Buying tickets was a little annoying from the machine, so you need to know your destination in advance. Insiders Berlin gives a handy guide on buying tickets:

When buying a ticket you need to choose your zones, which you can find on the map. Usually you’ll be travelling in Zones AB and to get to Schoenefeld airport you’ll need a zone ABC.

A basic zone AB ticket will cost you €2.10. The ticket is good for 2 hours and allows you to make as many changes as you need (from bus, to tram to U-bahn etc) in a 2 hour period as long as you are travelling in the same direction. In other words don’t try to treat it like a return ticket.

And Deutsche Bahn's Call-A-Bike service is a great place for renting a bicycle and the first-point of call to get a hold of one.


Luckily, a lot of people speak English, so don't be afraid to ask for help or try the Reisezentrum (Travel Centre) inside any train station. Otherwise it's a great place to stretch your legs and soak up the sights.